Meta faced accusations of targeting children for addictions to Facebook and Instagram in federal court on Tuesday.
Deputy California Attorney General Meghan O’Neill launched her case against Meta in a trial that could reshape how Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms operate.
O’Neill told the jury that Meta’s business model was all about trying to “hook the users, hold them for as long as they can, harvest their data and then hide the truth from the public.”
She said children were particularly susceptible to Meta’s algorithms and that Meta was aware of and sought to exploit that fact, pointing to an internal report at Meta, “The Young Ones are the Best Ones.”
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California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are leading a bipartisan group of 29 states suing Meta.
The states argue that Meta’s addictive platforms resulted in such harms as anxiety, depression and even suicide, and misled consumers about the platforms’ safety.
“Meta needed kids, and it needed to reassure the people who cared about those kids that the kids are safe,” O’Neill said.
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Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri are expected to testify in the weekslong trial.
Meta faces steep financial penalties depending on the outcome of the trial, with attorneys general stating last week that it could cost the company around $200 billion.
Representatives for Meta have denied wrongdoing and pointed to measures they put in place to protect teens and keep younger children off of their platforms.
“The AGs offer no proof anyone in their states was misled, claim benign features like having an additional Instagram account somehow harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” a Meta spokesperson said before the trial this week.
“Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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